Surprise Birthday and Engagement Party

He may not be a showy-type of boyfriend, never gave flowers nor chocolates, celebrates monthsaries or goes on a movie date like a typical bf/gf does but he makes it appoint that he will let me feel every single day how precious and lucky I am to have and be with him.

Before my birthday dinner, we already agreed that we will just have a family dinner exactly on my birthday and that we will just have a barbecue dinner on a weekend as 2nd part of my birthday celebration with some of close friends and relatives nearby our area. He even told me “Just invite your closest cousins and neighbors since it’s only bbq and I don’t want to have plenty of people around”. Though irritated, it was really not a big deal to have or not to have a birthday party so I just invited cousins near to our place and some few friends but when I asked them to confirm, they never contacted me at all… quite frustrated but that’s life, they might be busy and I do understand.

Early morning on the day of the barbecue party, Steve woke me up to go to a salon and pamper myself. I really refused since first, my hair is fine and secondly, it was my holiday and I didn’t want to wake up early. I kept on telling him that I didn’t want to go there and preferred to just stay at home and help them do the marinating but my mom and my sister Sharon told me that they would love to go and have their hair done. Even Rhyz and Shyne were interested so I had no choice but to go with them and stayed there all day from 930am- 6pm.

Everyone, once finished went home until only Mom and I we're left there. When mom finished her hair, we called the house and told them that they can now pick us up. To my surprise, my uncle, Diko Iking was the one who showed up saying that the guys were too busy for the barbecue party (his place is in Cavite which is approximately 3 hours’ drive from our area!) And not only that, at the gate of our subdivision, I even saw my cousin with her boyfriend waiting for a tricycle (3-wheeled motorcycle) so I told my mom and uncle that I saw Makki and asked mom to stop to get them but mom said that they might be going to a party elsewhere and kids were already waiting for us so we have to be in a hurry. While approaching the house, there were tents outside, elegant table arrangements, catering and almost all my relatives and friends were there... I was really stunned!  That was really a surprise!

Steve in connivance with my family, arranged everything including fireworks displays, catering services and invited everyone. I only asked for a dinner with my family but what he gave me was an experience I will truly treasure for the rest of my life. He told me that he’s about to propose on that day in front of my relatives and friends but since he already proposed… this is now my surprised birthday and our engagement party that ended up at 6am the following day! Take note, my Uncle Romy said that he got drunk twice that night! 

Best Birthday ever had!

Choosing Our Wedding Venue- Acuatico Beach, Laiya Batangas

We're officially engaged!

Once back from our holiday, we started talking about the wedding... the theme, the date and the venue.

Steve and I both wanted to have a beach wedding so we decided that we will definitely have one. We first planned of having it in Dubai since we're both residence here and near to his relatives in UK but thinking of the long procedures and expensive fees in getting visas plus the air ticket and accommodation for all my relatives just to attend our wedding made us decide to do it in Philippines and since it is an outdoor event, we chose to have it in Summer.

Philippines is surrounded by water so definitely, there will be a lot of beaches to choose from. We started looking for a venue online and most of the nice venues for an intimate wedding are in Boracay like Discovery Shore, Shangri-la, Estacio Uno, Asya, Sea Wind Boracay and Fridays but logistics' wise, it's not a good option for us knowing that all my relatives are in Manila and Steve's relatives need to travel almost a day from UK to Manila then another couple of hours from Manila to Boracay and at the same time, not all the guests we wanted to be present in our wedding can afford to shoulder the expenses. Though we wanted to have a beach wedding, we also need to consider our loved ones so we looked again for other options then I remembered something... Batangas also has nice beach resorts so we searched online. There are couple of nice beach hotels in the area but the one really captured our attention is the Acuatico Beach Resort in San Juan, Laiya Batangas.

                                                   http://www.acuaticoresort.com.ph/

According to their website, they only have a total of 21 rooms and villas good for 62 pax. In that case, the hotel is not that big to be crowded and to have a lot of in-house guests so it is just perfect for our intimate wedding!

We sent them an inquiry right after we got their email address on the website. Izel, the Sales & Reservations Manager was very accommodating sending us their wedding packages. The package options include the basic set-up of the venue, dinner buffet and overnight accommodation with breakfast for 62 pax which makes the hotel EXCLUSIVE for us on the night of our wedding! That is the type of venue/ package we are looking for... an intimate and exclusive wedding for us and our loved ones.

Now, since we are overseas, next is to find a Wedding Planner.

The Proposal

June 2013, Steve asked me what I wanted for my birthday; a gift (that I've been longing for so long) or a holiday. Since it’s been 5 years that I haven’t celebrated my birthday in Philippines with my family (I usually go home during Christmas and kids’ birthdays), I told him that I wanted a holiday... but in Philippines; a simple dinner with family is more than enough for me so we flew back to Philippines to celebrate my birthday.

On the day of my birthday, we reserved couple of seats for the family at Vikings, SM Marikina. We’re already late for our reservation due to traffic and the mall was so busy, we decided to let my brother-in-law, Raymond drop us at the entrance before going to the parking area. While waiting for them, Steve and Shyne went missing for almost an hour.

Everybody was already starting their dinner when they came back. I was quite pissed as I was already hungry but Shyne handed me a gift though obviously Steve was the one who bought it so I just told to myself, “Ah okay… so this is why they went missing!”

We started our dinner; everyone was busy getting their food at the buffet station when my mom, Shyne and I were left on the table. I asked Shyne where they have been but I also thanked and told her that I really like the watch they gave me then she slightly slipped her tongue and said “Mom the ring is really nice! I helped daddy Steve in choosing that…” then mom said “Shyne, what are you talking about? Your Dad won’t buy it for you…” I was a bit curious and kept on asking Shyne but she didnt want to talk anymore… so I assumed she wanted to buy a fashion ring but Steve refused to buy it.

After Viking staff had sung a birthday song for me, Steve gave me a box with a ring inside and said “Marry me.” Take note: he didn’t ask me at first, he’s telling me to marry him! I was in a state of shock as I never expected it. My hands were shaking and perspiring, felt like I was floating in the air. I was trying to figure out if it was real or I was only dreaming… still can’t absorb what was happening… Ohh best feeling I ever imagined! Then he asked me, “YES or NO?” Ohh, wow… I wasn’t dreaming… He was really proposing!

All I did was nod my head as a sign of “YES!” I couldn’t talk coz I was avoiding my tears to fall but when I saw his teary eyes, happy tears fell down and that's it... we're already engaged! By the way, how can you say "No" in front of your family? lol! (Just kiddin)

Steve showed the ring to my Mom and even asked permission prior to the proposal.